The Moon

AS11-44-6667 (21 JULY 1969) — This outstanding view of the whole full Moon was photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey homeward. When this picture was taken, the spacecraft was already 10,000 nautical miles away. Onboard Apollo 11 were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., lunar module pilot. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) “Eagle” to explore the Moon, astronaut Collins remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Columbia” in lunar-orbit.